Houston

Back in October we got some free Delta flight vouchers. We used them to visit Derrick's brother Jamon and his wife Jean last week. They showed us the sights and really spoiled us. We had such a fun time and it was great to get to know them better.

Day 1: Flew to Houston. Zach fell asleep during take off so that made things easier. Once there we took Zach on a walk to the park and mostly just hung out and played Wii.

Day 2: Drove to downtown Houston to see the Water Wall, the Galleria (a huge and very pricey mall. I think it's the 2nd biggest in America), and the Houston Zoo. For dinner we went to a great Chinese restaurant near Chinatown. We had Peking duck for the first time.

In front of the water wall. This thing was huge! It gave us vertigo when we'd look up at it from the base. The wall was falling down all 4 sides.

At the zoo we got to get really close to the lions. Only a piece of glass separated us from the lions. Zach was able to look where we were pointing but only seemed mildly interested in the animals in the cages. He seems to prefer animals he can chase and terrorize like Jamon and Jean's cat Georgina.

In the aquarium part they had this tube thing running through the tank that kids could crawl through. We tried to get Zach to crawl through it but it really freaked him out.

Jean's parents also live in Houston and were able to join us at the Chinese restaurant. They had a lot of fun with Zach.

Back at the house Zach got to have a bath in a giant tub. We filled it up a lot so we could see his reaction to the jets but sadly he barely noticed them. He did love all the extra wiggle room.

Day 3: Drove down to Galveston. There we took a boat ride, saw the aquarium and rainforest pyramids at Moody Gardens, and drove down to see the sea wall. Back in Houston we had a crawfish boil for dinner. We couldn't ever do much after dinner because Zach would crash by around 7:30p.m. every night because his nap schedule got all messed up.


On the boat. Since Zach refused to keep his hat on we had to rub sunscreen all over his head. It made him look like he had a comb over.

Fun times in the Aquarium Pyramid

Zach got his first taste of the ocean. He fought so hard to get in but once we stripped him and let him sit down he started crying and fought to climb back up me and out of the water. Oh well, maybe next time he'll like it better.

Jean and me at the sea wall. If you look closely at the pier behind us you can see a missing chuck. Bigger chunks were missing farther out.

Mmm...crawfish. Once you got past the point that you were eating things that looked like giant bugs, they were pretty good and tasted like shrimp.

Day 4: Derrick, Zach and I went to church in the morning. The afternoon was pretty mellow and then we had a BBQ for Jamon's birthday. This was Texas-style with massive amounts of beef and buffalo steaks and ribs. There were a ton of sides to go with it so we were completely stuffed. Jean's parents and a pair of Jamon and Jean's friends were also there.


Day 5: We drove to Brazos Bend State Park to have a picnic and see some alligators. The alligators were usually really hard to spot in the water. I'd forgotten to pack a spoon to go with Zach's lunch so I got to feed him using a straw (suck a bit into it and let him suck it out the bottom. Good thing he learned how to use a straw :) )


We did meet an alligator that decided to sun himself on the edge of our path. We tried to sneak past on the far side of the path but decided to head back the way we came once he lifted his head up and started hissing at us.

Day 6: We took Zach on a walk by the bayou and went to a BBQ place for lunch. (We had so much meat this trip). After that we headed back to the airport to fly home.

First Steps!

So I was "skype-ing" with my parents this afternoon and to my surprise Zach randomly took a few steps! He was so fascinated by the video and tried to get closer. He moved just one foot a couple of times and then he managed to move one then the other before losing his balance. He hasn't made any other attempts to walk today but I can't believe how close he is!

A Few of My Favorite Things...

Making messes - These pictures below show common occurrences. Usually the DVD mess happens several times a day.


Books - Zach loves pulling out his books. He stares intently at the different pages and carefully turns them. It's so funny to watch.


His "sof-ie" (burp cloths turned blankies) - Zach carries this thing everywhere. He holds it to calm down when upset, we put it over his eyes when he sleeps in public places, and he's recently started shoving it in his mouth to leave his hands free while playing.

* He doesn't usually have flower sheets. The 2 regular ones were dirty

* This is from the first time he saw me use this vacuum. He held onto the back and walked around the whole apartment with me. He only tackled the vacuum once.

Climbing - Zach tries to climb everything. One time he even managed to climb from my sister's lap onto the kitchen table before we could stop him.



Baby Signing Time - These DVDs are a life saver. For some reason Zach gets so absorbed when watching them.
Bath time - When Zach hears the water going he fights tooth and nail to get into the tub. Sometimes we're hard pressed to get all his clothes off. He has managed to climb head first into the tub twice now though both times the tub was dry. Zach now cries every time we take him out of his bath.

Playing outside - Zach loves playing outside. If he's getting fussy during the day I can just take him out on our porch or to the middle of the quad and he's happy.

Animals - Zach chases them down laughing the entire time. In Houston he wouldn't leave Jamon and Jean's cat alone. Cats are usually frightened by his enthusiasm but the big dog he kept chasing would just walk away annoyed.

10 Months

It's crazy to think that our little boy is 10 months and a week old. He is so much fun and has us laughing everyday. One good word to describe Zach is enthusiastic. When he decides to go for something, he does so as fast as he can grunting and/or laughing all the way. His smiles and laughs are so contagious and his enthusiasm leads to some pretty funny moments. It's great how the littlest things he does are so entertaining to us. We love you Zach!



For journaling/documenting purposes, here are some detailed descriptions of Zach's current level of development:

Sleeping - Zach is finally sleeping through the night. After a week of being up with him for hours I pulled out the tough love and made him cry it out during the first week of April. With only a night or two of lots of crying he learned pretty quick to go back to sleep. Zach seems like he's starting to transition to taking one nap a day. Sometimes he'll do 2 but other days he'll refuse to take his 2nd nap and ends up crashing around 7 p.m. The record is 6:15 p.m.

Standing/Cruising - Over the month of April Zach has gotten really fast at walking around furniture. He can reach almost every item on the couch and anything left near the edges of the kitchen table. He's also braver about trying to stand without support. He can stand for at least a minute without holding onto anything. He usually sits down because he gets bored of being in one place. Two weeks ago Zach learned how to go from sitting to standing without using anything to pull himself up.

Eating - About 2 weeks ago Zach learned the "exciting" talent of spitting. Now I have to watch very carefully or all the food I just put in his mouth will be decorating the floor or his bib. We introduced Zach to Rice Chex and now poor Cheerios just can't compete. Another favorite is banana-blueberry puree. He'll eat anything from spinach to brussel sprouts if I mix a little banana blueberry into it. Water is the only thing he'll drink from his sippy cup and he loves apple juice if it's mixed in with his cereal.

Language - Zach still has his really deep voice. He's very vocal with the yells and grunts but we're mostly hearing vowel sounds. He's been having fun with the "b", "d", and "s" sounds. Zach does say the word "hi" sometimes but we're not sure if he really knows what it means. When he's upset I do hear a lot of "mamamama".

Social - Zach absolutely loves being the center of attention. He has started getting more clingly with me but is still pretty good about going to other adults. He loves seeing other little kids and stares at them or crawls up to investigate. He's so enthusiastic in his interactions that he often scares the kids that are smaller than him.

Playing - Ever since Zach got more mobile he's been much better at entertaining himself. It's so fun to watch him play with his toys and whatever else he finds because he is always so intense. He gets really focused and has to look at what he's holding from every angle, tasting as he goes. Zach's playing mostly sticks to exploring, playing with toys, and looking at books. I would love any suggestions on games and other play ideas.